Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision for an economic turnaround in the country has sprung hope among global investors. However, while big bang reforms are expected, growth will largely depend on infrastructure spends and completion of projects, both stalled and new. The government has expressed its willingness to remove bottlenecks and change the urban landscape of the country with its promise of developing “100 smart cities” and introducing bullet trains. Highways, high-speed networks, mega power plants and port upgrades are on the agenda as well. But this will take time.
India will have to spend $1 trillion on infrastructure by 2017 to help alleviate the sector from creaking. And its experience with public-private partnerships on infrastructure has, thus far, not yielded the desired results. So what needs to be done to improve the financing and execution of infrastructure projects?
As part of the fourth session of the Forbes India CEO Dialogues: The Leadership Agenda, industry leaders shared their views on the steps needed for the revival of infrastructure development in India. Niranjan Hiranandani, founder of Hiranandani Constructions, Jatinder Mehra, director, Essar Steel, Seshagiri Rao MVS, joint managing director, JSW Steel, Archana Hingorani, CEO, IL&FS Private Equity, and Sunil Kaushal, chief executive officer, India & South Asia operations, Standard Chartered, discussed the roadmap for stimulating infrastructure growth in the country. Here are excerpts from the discussion moderated by R Jagannathan, editor-in-chief, .
Jagannathan: In terms of infrastructure projects, do you see movement at the state level?
Jagannathan: Dr Hingorani, looking at the entire infrastructure sector, which areas are most likely to take off with little interventions?
(This story appears in the 31 October, 2014 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)